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It's almost naptime at the JCOC Ocean front Preschool in Virginia Beach. Eighteen wiggly 4- and 5-year-old children put away their puzzles, crayons and puppets and gather around volunteer Mary Lee Wilkerson, a Virginia Beach educator. As teachers lay out mats and blankets, Wilkerson's voice soothes the children into nap mode as she reads "Prehistoric Pinkerton" - a book that reinforces the students' weeklong study of dinosaurs.

For the 18 preschool students having a structured learning time is a new endeavor. Most wouldn’t be in preschool of they couldn’t attend for free the new school operated by the Judeo-Christian Outreach Center. The center, which has long focused on feeding and housing homeless people in Virginia Beach, expanded this year into early education “because it is a real need” says Richard Powell, executive director of the center. “If a child enters kindergarten not knowing letters, numbers and colors that other children know, then he or she is knocked down right before ever getting started.”

All the preschool students come from lower-income who cannot afford the $125 weekly cost of most area preschools. In Virginia Beach the few other free preschools always have lengthy waiting lists. The JCOC preschool provides an option for struggling families to give their children a good start in life. The school on Baltic Avenue is in a renovated house a few blocks from the ocean. The $300,000 cost of the property and renovations was paid in part with a $50,000 grant from The Norfolk Foundation. The grant was the larges single one provided for the preschool.

“For most students this is their first opportunity to go to preschool,” says Tony Zontini, preschool director. The school gives them an opportunity to socialize with other children and learn with help from three teachers and various volunteers. Zontini hopes to send 5-year-olds like Delfina Meccico to kindergarten excited about learning and ready to master reading and math. For Delfina, her favorite parts of preschool are “using computers, playing outside and meeting new friends.”

Volunteer Mary Lee Wilkerson, who prepares Virginia Beach high school students for careers in early education, calls the preschool “the greatest thing”. These children would otherwise fall through the cracks. But instead they are in an environment where they are learning to correctly react in a social setting.” That raises the odds of succeeding later in school and life.

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To learn more about the JCOC Oceanfront Preschool and the Judeo-Christian Outreach Center call 757.491.2846 or visit www.jcoutrerach.org

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